Gujarat set to overhaul govt school system

Ahmedabad: Gujarat's education system is set for a major revamp after the Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development (PARAKH) Rashtriya Sarvekshan 2024 revealed wide learning gaps across primary and secondary classes in govt schools. Govt, officials said, has decided to use the assessment as a trigger "to overhaul how the state teaches, tests and manages students across govt schools".As part of this renewed push, sources said the state's top officials have decided that every Wednesday, the cabinet will pick one social or health index for detailed review — starting with learning outcomes in govt schools. School-level reforms and the rebuilding of secondary education have now been moved to the top of the agenda.Over the decades, Gujarat has expanded its schooling network to 53,604 institutions across 34 districts, with 3.98 lakh teachers serving 1.16 crore students. Access is nearly universal at the primary level. But PARAKH found Gujarat's overall "learning among children" average at 45 — below the national average of 50 — highlighting that access has not translated into learning.As part of the course correction, the govt plans decentralization. District development officers (DDOs) will now chair coordination committees that unify the primary and secondary wings, DIETs, the mid-day meal scheme, and infrastructure planning — functions previously centralised at the state level.An imbalance the govt wants to fix is the supply gap between primary and secondary schools. Gujarat has 40,203 govt elementary schools but only 13,401 secondary schools. This mismatch, officials say, accelerates the sharp drop in enrolment in govt schools at the secondary levels. According to senior officials, the state is now actively considering expanding secondary schools to "prevent students from shifting to private institutions." The assessment shows that govt schools dominate the elementary stage, running 80% of institutions and enrolling over 70% of students. But at the secondary and higher secondary levels, this flips — only 17% of schools are govt-run, enrolling barely 8% of students, while private and aided schools account for the overwhelming majority.The internal audits and the PARAKH learning scores compound the urgency. Among 1.04 lakh students tested across 3,899 schools in Classes 3, 6 and 9, Gujarat sees a continuous slide — average score of 55 in Class 3; 45 in Class 6; and 39 in Class 9.DDOs will also monitor vacancies, approve school development plans, track infrastructure gaps and use the district Vidya Samiksha Kendra's early warning system, based on attendance patterns, to flag potential dropouts. To avoid starting from scratch, Gujarat is studying reforms in Bihar, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. One initiative adopted from Maharashtra is the "Mothers' Group" model, a community-driven mechanism in which mothers monitor children's transition from anganwadis and track their foundational literacy progress. Gujarat has already aligned with the National Education Policy 2020's 5+3+3+4 structure, shifting away from the traditional 10+2 model towards competency-based, experiential and multidisciplinary learning, with no rigid separation between arts and sciences.